north korea once again. i can't tell you what happens next, but i can assure you that we at cnn will bring you all the latest developments as they happen. thanks very much for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. the news continues next on cnn. good evening, everyone. tonight, president obama's heading for hawaii. but not before signing a tax cut to let millions of you keep more of your money. just in time for the holidays, snow and ice snarls travel. but this year, it's in places you wouldn't expect. and some of you won't be getting the gifts you ordered. a major retailer admits it has more online orders than it can fill. we begin this hour as we begin it air force one is heading west, president obama is meeting his family in hawaii. his last order of business, signing the newly passed bill to keep your taxes from going up on january 1st. the president also made a point of thanking voters for telling

congressional republicans to block the payroll tax cut extension. >> you reminded people in this town what our debates and all of our debates should be about. it's about you, it's about your lives. it's about your families. >> jessica yellin was right there when the president said aloha and walked out of the briefing room is few hours ago. the president won this fight. the question is, how much of it carries over to the reelection year and the reelection campaign? >> reporter: it carries over, john. i'll tell you why because first of all this wasn't just a short-term victory over what he likes to call a dysfunctional congress, in this case, house republicans. but this also gave him a chance to act out the role he wants to play during the campaign. and that is champion of working americans. there's not just the sound you played of the president but you also heard him say this is a make-or-break moment for the working class, everyone deserves a fair shake or a fair shot. this fight put his campaign

narrative into a real-life drama. and the republicans handed him an opening to do that. john? >> but many tough issues when they do come back, they'll be back into spending, tough spending cuts and all that. do they think this is a turning point, they'll be able to work more with the congress or do they think they just won this one, the tea party members are going to look for more fights? >> reporter: they're certainly pleased and relieved that they got this opportunity. but everybody here know that is there's going to be a bitter battle in the new year and you heard him say he wants to be able to extend this tax cut into a one-year deal with no drama in the new year. that's the first fight. i'll also expect that in the new year, you're going to see him do a lot of those "we can't wait" executive actions where the president makes unilateral actions. he does that because he expects to find a gridlocked congress in the new year.

don't expect a lot of kumbaya in this town during election season. >> no drama, he's not getting that one. jessica yellin live at the white house for us tonight. thanks. tonight, it's a safe bet more americans more concerned with last-minute shopping than they are about worrying about next year's taxes. alison kosik keeping track of the holiday sales rush. >> reporter: maybe all that holiday shopping procrastinating wasn't such a bad thing after all. if you waited till the last minute, there are some great deals out there. retailers are offering deep discounts in the final hours before christmas. ann taylor is offering half off the entire store, 60% off at the gap, you get the idea. and for anybody looking for a good deal, it's a shopper's paradise. but for retailers, it's a big scramble to get rid of their merchandise. analysts say retailers are aggressively slashing prices because consumers are more price conscious than ever before. and even though the holiday shopping season has been fairly

strong, momentum seems to have slowed a bit and stores are still sitting with a lot of inventory on their shelves. it's one reason your e-mail inbox may be getting pummeled with marketing from every store imaginable. once the holidays end, stores know prices will have to be cut even more so they're not stuck holding too much merchandise. john? >> i did get a lot of those e-mails today? alison kosik, thanks. folks in the desert southwest don't have to dream of a white christmas this year. take a look at this. el paso, texas, had blowing snow, icy roads this morning. snow and ice closed parts of 10 and 25 across new mexico. on the other hand, parts of the country where traveling is usual brutal this time of year, things aren't so bad. chad myers has the getaway forecast. where do you need to get away from, chad? >> need to get away from parts of new mexico, john. finally, though, in the past hour, i-40 has opened back up through new mexico and i-10. i can't tell you the last time i've ever heard of i-10 being closed because of snow.

i-10, this is mexico. this is southern new mexico and arizona right here in el paso. you showed the pictures earlier. that's where the trouble was this morning. i-25 is still shut down for another couple of hours till they get the plows out. where is it going to be a white christmas? not very many spots. you have to go to the mountains, be up here. if you're going to be skiing in the cascades, good stuff, good snow. the sierra going okay. but colorado and utah, really good snow. even the ski resorts in arizona. it's green in michigan. maybe a little bit brown in some spots. but no white christmas across parts of the northeast. not expecting any snowfall to come down. still some here in parts of west texas. but you'd expect a big swath of snow for santa across the midwest. not this year. airports doing okay. that's good for travelers. right now, 6,100 airplanes in the sky and most of them on time or in fact if you're going from

east to west, you're ahead of time because the jet stream that they usually plan on slowing you down with a headwind is way down to the south. you're not flying against a headwind. many airplanes getting into places like santa barbara, l.a., san diego 30 minutes ahead. how long have we ever talked about that? somebody's always behind. but this week, looks great. >> amen to that. let's hope it stay that is way. i hope that snow stays out there in the west. chad, thanks very much. on the campaign trail today, iowa voters woke up to a new attack on mitt romney. this time from the democratic vice president, joe biden. in a des moines register op ed essay biden writes, how could anyone forget the economic catastrophe brought about by the same policies mr. romney is proposing, his are the same policy that is deregulatored wall street and turned it into a casino that gambled recklessly with american's money.

romney laughs off the criticism. >> you wonder what fantasy land he lives in. he needs to get out and meet with people. he seems to think that he and the president have made things better. they haven't made things better. >> jennifer jacobs is a chief political reporter for the des moines register. we have a republican race a little over a week away and yet the democratic vice president is attacking governor romney. what's your sense of why they wanted to pick this fight in iowa right now? >> yeah, exactly, the republicans i talked to today said this is a pretty clear sign that the white house is totally focused on mitt romney and they point out that romney's entire strategy has been to talk about jobs and the economy. so they read this as saying that the white house is pretty much on the defensive here. but the democrats i talked to think that vice president biden just shredded mitt romney's closing arguments in the days right before he returns to iowa. we have one of the purplest states in the nation. i don't think this little fight

is going to be decided. at least not tonight. >> we're going to have having this debate not just through the caucuses but through next november, iowa will be competitive in the general election. you mentioned governor romney is coming back. there's a new poll out tonight that shows ron paul in the lead, governor romney in second place at 20%. speaker gingrich behind that at 19%. then you have, perry, bachmann, huntsman and santorum rounding out the pack. is this consistent with other polling or because this is a caucus, i'm not sure -- i'm not saying the pollsters are trying their best. but i'm not sure i necessarily trust it. does that track what you're picking up on the ground? >> absolutely. ron paul's crowds are getting bigger and bigger as we get closer to january 2rd. one of our most popular venues for campaign stops in iowa are the pizza ranch restaurants and ron paul has outgrown those restaurants. our beat reporter is talking to more and more democrats and independent voters. but when you talk about the polls, anybody who thinks it's

bogus that ron paul is at the top should look back to four years ago. our pollster predicted that ron paul would finish at 9% and he came in at 10% in the iowa caucuses in 2008. the college campuses were closed then, too. any of his rivals who think they're going to count on the college closures in order to soften ron paul's support probably shouldn't count on that. >> you're dead right. his supporters are locked in. now we have this interesting campaign. because iowa moved up to january 3rd, are we getting a christmas lull? i know most of the campaigns seem to switch their ads positive for 24, 48 hours. how much of a christmas lull before we're back in the bang-bang? >> well, you're right. we've got the ads that feature some of the relatives of the candidates. we have some of the softer ads. but then i know ron paul's campaign is going to be launching a big offensive right after the caucuses. so the lull is going to be pretty short. >> and any sense -- what's your biggest question or wild card going into the last week?

anybody left out there with a big endorsement? any other big dynamic that could play out or is this just now, fight it out the old-fashioned way for the last week? >> it's so crazy. no one has any idea what's going to happen on january 3rd. i think people are predicting the top third is going to be maybe ron paul in the top and mitt romney in the top. but after that, no idea. >> no idea. that's what makes it so much fun. jennifer jacobs, chief political reporter for the des moines register. see you soon. thanks so much. if you're addicted to e-mail and who isn't, story about to come up here that will make you sit up and take notice. one companies tells its employees, turn it off, sometimes. how about that? details in just a few minutes. everyone have their new blackberry from at&t? it's 4g, so you can do more faster. so, kathryn, post more youtube videos of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team. huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora.

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the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. disturbing new escalation in syria's bloody spiral of violence. suicide car bombs went off in damascus. tonight's images are especially graphic. the two car bombings left behind charred metal, shattered buildings and body parts. the big question, who's behind these deadly attacks?

syria's government-run news agency say the attacks carry the blueprint of al qaeda, quote. cnn can't send a correspondent into syria. but our reporter is monitoring the situation from cairo tonight. the syrian government says al qaeda -- i don't believe the pronouncements by the syrian government. what do we know? >> reporter: john, as you said, the syrian government blaming al qaeda. but the opposition groups we're speaking with in syria, the activists there, they're laying the blame at the doorstep of bashad. they say it's convenient at a time when arab lead monitors in syria that bashad would make these claims. in this ten months the uprising

has been going on, he's said repeatedly he and his troops are fighting terrorists, even though the international community is condemning he and his regime for the violence there, they maintain there is terror within syria's borders. they say he's done this to convince them that al qaeda is there. but his crackdown against pro democracy demonstrators will exist. >> you mention that had arab league team in there. is there any sense this will impact their work as they try to document human rights abuses? >> reporter: well, there were pictures on syrian state television earlier showing the syrian regime took members of this team to the blast site to show them the aftermath of the carnage. one member of the team said this will not affect their work. even though they saw the blast site, they had meetings and will continue to have meetings. more members of the team will be coming into syria in the coming

days. one more interesting thing to mention is that the opposition in syria is not a fan of the arab league. they don't think this is an effective group. they don't think having monitors in syria is going to stop this crackdown. they've been continuing to call on the international community to intercede, help in some way and do what they believe the arab league won't be able to do and help rid that country of the current regime. >> muhammad, thank you. joining us for more perspective is professor ajami. professor, good to see you. al qaeda in syria? >> your skepticism is right on the mark, john. the idea that al qaeda would hit a city and hit it on that particular day with the arab league monitors arriving is very, very dubious. the citizens control that city of damascus. these place where is these car bombs hit are top security installation and top security

places. i think i'm really quite dubious about this. >> if we are dubious, i think we share that belief. what do you see this as -- if it is the assad government doing this, what is the end, if you will? >> john, i really don't know. it's kind of an endless nightmare for the syrian people. as this is going on, as we're kaukt these two car bombs, 400 people have been killed in syria in one week. in one village, 100 people were killed. and the imam, the prayer leader of that village was beheaded and his head was hung at the entrance of the mosque. i think bashir al assad is all in. he doesn't think he has to fear from the arab league or from the international community. >> and you mentioned the killings this week, a global group says they think now 6,000, the death toll is at at least over the past several months. we've spoken about this several times. you view this as a moral challenge for the arab league

and for the world. is there any serngs though, that those organizations, especially beginning with syria's neighbors, are up to the challenge to get tougher? >> well, john, as we have the holidays upon us, we pornd ponder the ideal of the syrian people. who would have thought there would be this stalemate between the syrian ae regime and a peaceful protest? they praying for the international community to come in. it's a case of libya envy. they hope to see an outcome in their country similar to the rescue mission and to the outcome that played out in libya. but no rescue is coming for the syrians, none that i could see over the horizon. >> we talked about this at the time. but when you see the graphic images we have today, when you have had throughout the week, discussed hundreds and hundreds killed from town to town, this

is bashir al assad talking to barbara walters earlier this month. he denies everything. and in doing so, he's in complete denial. let's listen. >> we don't kill our people. no government in the world kills its people unless it's let by a crazy president. i became president because of the public support. it's impossible for anyone in this state to give orders to kill. >> do you feel guilty? >> i do my best to protect the people. you don't feel guilty when you do your best. >> that laugh at the end is creepy. is it your sense -- he's good at the propaganda part of this. can assad survive this? >> that's the fundamental question. if he survive this is challenge, if he rides out this protest, it's a pity and it's a shame on all of us. this man has crossed the

rubric -- when he says only a crazy man would kill his own people -- or a criminal, i think, and this is really what this regime has become. it's a criminal regime. the united nations commission for human rights has referred the case and recommended that the case of bashir al assad and his case be taken to the international criminal court. we're talking about a criminal regime and a man as you rightly said in absolute denial. he's an eye doctor and his wife is a jpmorgan banker. >> professor, appreciate your insights tonight. i wish we had a more positive topic to talk about. thanks again, sir. >> thank you, john. a popular movie is the latest battleground in the war against counterfeit products. just ahead, a top company takes its fight to a whole new level.

welcome back. kate bolduan is here with the latest news you need to know. the president's campaign and the democratic national committee have returned $70,000 in donations from jon corzine and his wife. corzine is under investigation following the collapse of the investment firm mf global where he was ceo. across the pond, britain ice prince philip is in the hospital after complaining of chest pains.

a spokeswoman says the prince is undergoing tests at a hospital in cambridge. no other deals have been made public. and the luxury fashion brand lew louis vuitton is taking its chinese-made counterfeits to a whole new level. check out this movie from the hit movie "the hangover ii". >> careful, that is a louis vuitton. >> louis vuitton. the problem is, according to a new lawsuit, the bag shown in the movie isn't a louis vuitton. it's a knockoff. warner brothers wouldn't alter the scene for the dvd version. if you feel chained to your e-mail x get a load of this. volkswagen is deactivating workers' handheld devices e-mail accounts when people are away from work to give them a break

from distractions that take attention away from their families and private lives. cnn got no response when we asked if vw's u.s. workers will get the same freedoms. probably because all of their blackberries were turned off. >> you want me? turn it off, take it. >> i don't know if cnn is going to go for that. >> for christmas, i bought you that louis vuitton bag from the guy on the street in new york city where i got my rolex. $20, that's a good deal, right? >> i would not say this on air. >> not a good idea? thanks, kate. up next, the truth about whether the tea party is getting stronger or weaker. and donald trump tonight, no longer a republican. he'd like you to think it could have big implication for next november. anything, a power drill -- ooh! [ male announcer ] the only place to go for every guy on your christmas list with great deals throughout the store. walmart.

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welcome back. coming up this half hour, the truth about whether the tea party is getting stronger or weaker. we'll hear from a girl who wrote to president obama about her school. he not only read it. we'll tell you about the big surprise that came next. if you're feeling stretched to find the perfect holiday gift, we may have found just what you're looking for. it's a pleasure to stand front and center when you win. >> because of this agreement, every working american will keep their tax cut, about $1,000 for a typical family. and that's translates into an extra $40 or so in every paycheck.

>> not so much when you lose. give speaker john boehner credit for personally leading the house as he conceded defeat in the fight over payroll tax cuts. >> the house will be in order. >> but here's tonight's truth. what comes next will no doubt test the speaker's leadership skills. but this fight is also a major defining line for the tea party members who pushed boehner not to accept the two-month deal to begin with. truth is, the tea party has less influence now than it did at the beginning of the year. the 2012 campaign will test whether it is a lasting force in the gop. in this last congressional showdown, speaker boehner made clear they had no choice but to accept the final payroll tax cut deal. while there was grumbling, no one rushed back to washington to derail it. democrats sense a potential turning point. >> we might be more likely to get things done. i think the tea party republicans may have learned a lesson. >> wishful thinking, perhaps.

after not getting their way in this fight, many tea party lawmakers say they will regroup and fight on. but they will do so in a much tougher political climate. about a third of americans have a favorable view of the tea party. nearly half have an unfavorable view. among independents, there's a nine-point drop year to year in the tea party's favorable rating. yes, the tea party had considerable influence in washington this year. but it lost the last battle. truth is, it's influence will wane if there isn't a follow-up tea party punch in the 2012 cycle. with us now to discuss this and more, cnn contributor, eric ericsson, steve grubbs and also here, democratic strategist and cnn contributor, maria cardona. were you surprised that nobody came back -- i want to play congressman mike kelly that was

on the show last night. >> i'm so determine that had we have to get this fixed for the people that sent us. >> that drive down would have been to object and to essentially knock the unanimous consent that they handled this deal with off the tracks. nobody did that in the end. why? >> because frankly most of the conservatives i've talked to kind of gave up a couple of weeks ago and realized that both sides were being dumb about it. not both sides democratic and republican, both sides house and senate republicans. republicans in the house got outmaneuvered. they tried to be nicer than they probably should have. to be honest with you, if you look at the voting record of so-called tea party republicans in congress, about three-quarters of them vote with leadership more often than they do the republican study committee, which is the conservative leaders in the house. so most of the tea party republicans in congress are more leadership guys than they are conservatives. >> started drinking the co

kool-aid, i don't know what happens next. will the tea party has as much influence in the caucuses as they did in any big contest involving republicans in 2010? >> the tea party doesn't necessarily organize itself behind one candidate or the other. but candidates who reflect the views of the tea party, michele bachmann, maybe rick santorum, and to a lesser extent, ironically, ron paul, i think that they will have a fairly strong showing. nevertheless, i think you will see mitt romney with either a first or second-place finish. and newt gingrich, i would never consider him a tea party candidate. he'll be up there third, fourth, somewhere in there. >> it's an interesting point. i want to bring in maria to the conversation. obviously if you're a republican running right now, you still know there's a tea party element out there. as steve notes, they're split among the candidates. ron paul is relying on his son, rand paul. watch this. >> the tea party began as a protest against politicians who

supported more debt and bigger government. my father, ron paul, stood against the establishment and against government bailouts. he's always stayed true to his principles and convictions. >> if there's one guy who's kept his tea party base, i would think rand paul -- is that an effective ad? >> it is, depending on who you're talking to. right now, it seems like most the republicans, including ron paul, are talking to the conservative base in iowa. that's why we see his numbers are really surging in iowa. but i think the problem is, john, that the tea party now is especially going into the 2012 election, they're talking to everybody, whether they want to, whether they know it or not. and this is what really hurt him this last battle because independents, as you noted, their favorability among independents has gone down. where they really started losing the argument -- they were focusing on debt and the deficit when they weren't focused on it. democrats have conceded that they changed the conversation but they were not able to change

their "it's my way or the highway" mechanism that in washington does not work. especially when you have to choose between a middle class tax cut and it going away and what they've talked about, which is nowhere new taxes for millionaires and billionaires. that was an untenable argument for them. that's why they lost it. >> is it somewhat inevitable that the tea party is loosely defined. the massachusetts tea party is very different from the georgia tea party, very different from the san diego tea party or the arizona tea party or the iowa tea party. is that part of the issue here in the sense that it's loosely fit, you can be a protest movement and have a big impact on an election but when you're part of a governing coalition, it's not really an organization, per se? >> right. there's a little more to it than that as well. what was the defining issue of the tea party movement? it was the president's health care plan. and after the president's health care plan, it was spending. now the tea party movement is broken off. they have different opinions on how to handle unemployment benefits, different opinions on how to handle the payroll tax and different opinions on the candidate who's best to pit against barack obama. the tea party movement really is

a very divided movement right now and doesn't have one central issue rallying everything around it. >> i want to show a new survey out today. some of the polls are public like this poll. there's some conflict in them. this is a reputable polling group. ron paul, 21%. mitt romney, 20%. gingrich, 19%. and then perry, bachmann, huntsman and santorum. you talk to a lot of people on the ground, they think santorum is doing better than that. is that in your sense a roughly fair state of play with a little more than a week to go? >> no, too many in the media are focusing on those topline numbers. they include 22% nonrepublican voters, independents. when you actually dig into the details of that survey, you look at just likely republican voters, you see ron paul in third. and when you look at likely caucus voters, including all -- everybody they surveyed, ron paul was -- i shouldn't say

likely. i should say those that were most likely, ron paul is in third in that as well. so you have to dig into those numbers a little bit to see a more accurate view of them. i do think santorum is doing better than the 4%. having 22% nonrepublicans in the survey distorts the view of the survey. >> that is a debate about what new voters are going to show up, in the sense that people can change their registration and come in, like barack obama did four years ago while the ron paul people say, watch, we're going to bring new people to the equation, you're a bit skeptical? >> absolutely. i watch this. this is my fifth presidential campaign. and roughly 100,000 people are going to vote. that's not that many. and no matter what happens, every cycle they try to bring new people in. and it's not that many. it will be nowhere near 22% independents. even though i have a lot of respect for arg, i don't think the topline numbers in the survey anywhere -- i don't think they reflect the -- what's actually going on on the ground.

>> one of the questions right now is like newt gingrich before him and other xaendz before that, whether ron paul can take the heat. ron paul when he was out of congress has the ron paul newsletter. it's essentially advice, political advice and financial advice and people paid to subscribe for it. there are some pretty racy and racist things if you read this letter. this is an excerpt from the one i just held up for you. "i've been told not to talk, but these stooges don't scare me, threats or no threats, i've laid bare the coming race war in our big cities." ron paul spokesman sent this to cnn today -- dr. paul did not write that solicitation and the signature is an auto pen. it does not reflect his thoughts and is out of step with the message he has espoused for 40 years. he has never used such rhetoric. he disavows the newsletter and

abhors that content. erick, i take jesse benton at his word and he speaks for dr. paul in that statement. however, you're a candidate for high office. he was a politician back in the day. this letterhead has his name on it. it may be in auto pen, but that is his signature. anything that happens in your public life is fair game when you're running for president, no? >> right. very much so, but it's more complicated than that because ten years ago when confronted by the dallas morning news, ron paul said he wrote some of the stuff in those newsletters. now ten years later, saying he didn't. a lot of the statements ron paul made about jews and israel, he's made on iranian television. if republicans are going to attack barack obama for being in jeremiah wright's church, then ron paul saying that gay men

want to poison the american blood supply with aids, that's absurd. >> this is the reason i think mitt romney is is going to finish first or second in iowa. as the focus or the heat comes on the other republican candidates, each one of them slowly starts to have issues pop up. but then romney has been running for five years and doesn't really have any of these types of issues that are really glaring. so a lot of republicans i talk to say, mitt romney doesn't excite me. but you know what? he doesn't have the baggage the others have. i think he can beat barack obama. >> maria, i owe you some time. i'll owe you a bit. >> that's great. ahead, new concerns about weapons picked up and fears the weapons could fall into the wrong hands. and why a retail giant says, guess what, cancel your christmas order f. you bought gifts online this season, stay with us. we'll give you the tough news.

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if you're the president of the united states, you get a lot of mail and not just at christmastime. every day, president obama reads ten letters selected by his staff and personally writes back to the senders. some of these exchanges are collected in the book titled "ten letters." one girl not only got an answer, the president mentioned her in a speech last year. >> i got a letter recently

postmarced kovingtkovington, ke it was from a 10-year-old girl, the same age as sasha. she told me about how her school has closed so she enrolled in another. she said, one more thing, she said -- it was a long letter. you need to look at us differently, we are not black, we're not white, biracial, hispanic, asian or any other nation nationality. no, we are the future. nadria, you are right. >> she joins us now along with the author of "ten letters." why did you decide -- what troubled you so much that you thought you needed to ask the president of the united states for help? >> well, what troubled me the most was education. the education that i was getting in my school, it wasn't fair for

anybody at all. >> wasn't fair enough for anybody at all. here's what you wrote in part of your letter, nobody is getting the same education, sometimes i think if you're really smart, you get punished. then there are kids who can't keep up and we wind up taking extra classes that we do not need. they took away our social studies class and are giving us an extra math class to catch up. can you fix this so that everybody can be in the right class. because of the struggling students, you feel at times you're being kept behind? >> yes. >> and when the president responded, did you get the sense that he can help you? can a president of the united states help with that problem or does that have to be dealt with locally? >> i thought because the fact that when i talk to people locally, nobody really listened. so i went over their heads and decided to write the president. >> stand by for a second. i want to bring eli into the conversation. you have this remarkable young girl that writes to the president.

what did you learn in writing the book about the process? how is it that her letter gets to the president as opposed to whether it's another student or whether it's somebody else out there? >> it takes an army. mail used to be handled inside the white house before the anthrax scare. then they moved it off site to a building in downtown d.c. where every day 1,500 volunteers and 50 staff members sort through this deluge of mail. they look like look for representative samples. if it's something in the news, that's something that may go to his desk. if half the mail is negative, half is positive, they want to share with the president, five positive, five negative letters. nadreya's note stood out. >> he's trying to get votes in are reelection campaign. when working on this book project, do they let you see the good, the bad and the ugly? >> they let me see the good, bad and the ugly.

i read letters from a conservative in texas who wrote a very critical e-mail late at night to the president and was shocked to receive a handwritten reply. >> and you received a response from the president. he's mentioning you in speeches. are things in your school better today than they were when you sent the letter or do you still have the same problem? >> well, they are better today because we have now got split into groups of -- at our own level. >> did the president have anything to do with that or is that just the way it played out? >> i'm not sure. he might have because from what he wrote in his letter telling me that he was going to try his best to change it. >> eli, you mentioned some of the critical. here's one here from thomas ritter. dear mr. president, i hope you read this and that you stop and listen to the american people. this bill has caused such a divisive, toxic environment. i teach and watched as excited students were motivated by the promise of hope.

this is exactly the kind of a thing you rant against, isn't it? do the right thing and not the political thing. suggest a bill that all americans can support. that's in the middle of the health care debate. the president writes this bill that all americans can support. that is in the middle of the health care debate. and this one, mr. ritter, i appreciate your concerns and the toxic environment, but i have to challenge you with the notion that anybody who disagrees me is ridiculed or that i have made fun of tea baggers. i have defended strongly the right of everyone to speak their mind and including those who call me a socialist or worse. i think that health care is the right thing for the country, but it was certainly not the smart political thing. so a guy who is harshly critical gets a response from the united states and dwuz some combat with him politely and what does mr. ritter think? >> well, he didn't think wit fruz the president. he thought that some friend had wr

written an elaborate frank. he had written a letter trying to notice that they were consistent with the left-handed writer and finally when the white house called to ask if he got the response, he realized it was from the president. so he is a etch tooteacher so h the note into the school and he started this class on civility in the country and on discourse. >> na' draya, it must be cool to be mentioned by the president of the united states and to get a note back from him? >> yes, it is very neat. i was very surprised when it happened though. >> when i talk to you in 15 or 20 years from now, what do you want to be? >> well, i want to be a forensic scientist and i want to keep the grades up and make it there. >> you want to go to m.i.t., i have heard? >> yes. i'm from boston so if you go the m.i.t. can i make you a red sox' fan? >> i'm not sure about that. well, that is a diplomatic

answer and maybe you should be secretary of the state. thank you and eli sazlo as well. the president likes to say he is trapped in a bushlgsbble, and t one way he likes to get out. thank you both very much. the donald says he is not a republican and what does that mean for next year? and a poplar warning from a retail giant. if you ordered gifts you might want to stick around. if a popular gift is causing you headaches, we will tell you how to get that outfit under your christmas tree. yes. ♪ [ boy ] looks like our work is done here. i'm heading home. vaaa vrooom! need some help, ma'am? grrrrrrr! [ in high voice ] oh thank you.

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not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com.

this important political news just in to cnn and a setback from the presidential campaign of rick perry, because we are told he is disqualified from the virginia ballot. he and others had to file their signatures to get on the virginia ballot this week which is march 6th, and we are told that some of the signatures are disqualified so governor perry will not be a candidate on the march 6th primary ballot. kate bolduan is here with more of the news that you need to know right now. >> thank you, john. the state department is in talks with the libyan government to have permission to purchase shoulder anti-missile equipment, and there is serious concern

about if they fall into the hands of the terrorists or insurgents. in holiday news, the holiday shoppers are racing against the clock. if you bought presents against best buy, you may need to plan for more time. but the electronics giant said it will not be able to fill full some customers' online purchases and including those who made purchases three weeks ago. best buy blamed overwhelming demand for hot products. and finally the gift for the person on the christmas list that you cannot find the perfect gift for. you may have seen this guy. i emphasize, may, because i have not during nba halftime shows and he bills himself as slinky man and now he is offering the wonderiful outfit for sale on ebay. there is a catch and there always is, and the asking price will shock you, $1 million. so far according to the ebay listing he has 11 offers which they have not disclosed. and the nba tips off the lockout

shortened season on christmas. and john, you have the moment we missed. i have the moment that you may have wished that you had missed. as you know, donald trump is no longer registered as a republican. we just found out that. an aide says that trump switched to unaffiliated to preserve his right to run for president if he is not satisfied with the eventual republican nominee. he is like the candidate that is never the candidate that is the energizer bunny of the party. >> he switched the party affiliation so we would have a reason to talk about him, but that would be cynical of me. he could afford the slinky suit. >> there's the buyer. genius! now, i really would love to know what everyone thinks about the outfit, because while it is entertaining -- >> i have seen it at the nba game, and i can't do that. >> please, keep doing that. >> that is it. that is all you are going to get out of me. >> the moment you have missed has not been on television yet,

but this is posted from the "20/20" special when president obama fesses up his worst character trait. >> what is the character trait that you most deplore in yourself and the trait you most deplore in others. >> laziness. >> you are lazy? >> it is interesting. there is a deep down underneath all of the work i do, and i think that there's a laziness in me. i mean, it is probably from, you know, growing up in hawaii and it is sunny outside, and sitting on the beach. >> sounds good to me. >> ah. >> do you believe that? that seems like a cop-out answer. lazy? >> you hear the politicians all of the time, and anything that you say, all right, so you don't buy that one, and the president was also asked, what is your biggest peeve with the first lady? >> what was the answer? >> what do you think that the answer was? >>